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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What two opposites does Dawkins say he is examining the biology of?
(a) Rationality and emotionalism.
(b) Selfishness and altruism.
(c) Individuality and community.
(d) Self-centeredness and other-centeredness.

2. What does Dawkins say readers can think of DNA as?
(a) A dictatorial ruler.
(b) A computer controling the body.
(c) A set of plans.
(d) A set of general guidelines.

3. What molecules does Dawkins say existed in ancient seas and formed amino acids?
(a) Water, carbon dioxide, methane, and amonia.
(b) Water, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulfur.
(c) Methane, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
(d) Carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulfur, and amonia.

4. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, how does he describe the creation of new DNA by sexual reproduction?
(a) Books from different shelves are mixed together on a new shelf.
(b) Two books are combined into one two-volume work.
(c) Pages are torn out of different books and put together.
(d) Two bookshelves are combined into one.

5. What apparently selfish act of the praying mantis does the author describe?
(a) Injuring another mantis that enters a claimed territory.
(b) Leading another mantis into a spider's web.
(c) Fighting over an aphid colony.
(d) A female eating her mate.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dawkins say points to the idea that all living things come from the same types of early molecules?

2. What does Dawkins compare point mutation to?

3. What does the author suggest might be better wording than "survival of the fittest"?

4. Does the author believe that all people should act selfishly?

5. In Dawkins' metaphor about DNA, what does the bookshelf represent?

(see the answer key)

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